Wayne voters at next week’s Town Meeting will decide whether alcohol can be sold and consumed on site and whether they want to borrow money to fix town roads.

Voting will begin Tuesday with a handful of secret-ballot questions, including two that would open the door to selling liquor for on-site consumption. Ballot voting is set for 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Ladd Recreation Center, at 26 Gott Road.

Voting on the remaining articles is to be dealt with at Town Meeting, which begins at 6 p.m. the next day, Wednesday, back at the recreation center.

In addition to deciding what to do with Wilson Pond property acquired for failure to pay taxes, voters on Tuesday will decide whether to allow the sale of liquor to be consumed on premises. Town Manager Aaron Chrostowsky said the questions, one of which would allow the sales Monday through Saturday and a second that would allow the sales on Sunday, are in response to a voter petition.

If the question passes, the town could allow anything from a restaurant that serves liquor to a full-scale bar, Chrostowsky said. The change also would allow civic organizations or nonprofits to get a one-day permit for functions.

“That’s partially what drove the petition,” Chrostowsky said. “There are a couple of civic organizations in town that have regular fundraisers.”

Applicants seeking a long-term liquor license for restaurants or bars would need to get state approval before they could sell alcohol to be consumed on the premises, even if the articles are approved. The change would allow the town to issue one-day permits for functions without state approval.

“This is a blanket authority by the town,” Chrostowsky said.

Voters will address the remaining questions on the warrant during Wednesday’s Town Meeting. The bulk of the questions revolve around proposed town spending, which Chrostowsky said is down $19,000 to $1,059,915.

“We actually cut our operating budget,” Chrostowsky said. “It’s almost a 2 percent decrease in expenditures on the municipal side.”

But that is where the good news for taxpayers ends. The Regional School Unit 38 budget is up 2.27 percent, to nearly $16 million. Wayne’s portion of that budget is up nearly $100,000, to $1.87 million. The end result, including the Kennebec County assessment, is a property tax rate that will increase by 33 cents, from $14.37 to $14.70 per $1,000 of assessed property valuation. For someone who owns a $150,000 home, that would mean a $49.50 tax increase, to $2,205.

“The town saw that the school was going to come in high, and we tried to minimize the tax impact as much as possible,” Chrostowsky said. “When they see an increase in their taxes, it’s largely due to the school and county.”

Selectmen are proposing a $300,000 bond for road repair again this year. If approved, the loan would push the town’s outstanding bond balance to $736,000. Chrostowsky said the board plans to ask for $300,000 in each of the next few years to bring roads back up to standard.

“We have a number of roads that fall in that reconstruction status,” he said. “That’s why we need to borrow and get a little more aggressive with our capitol road program.”

Road work sites this year include Kings Highway, Hathaway Road, Cross Road and portions of Berry Road.

“We’re trying to invest in our roads more than we have in the past couple of years,” Chrostowsky said. “This year we’re targeting North Wayne.”

Selectmen have included a number of articles aimed at combining reserve accounts, such as taking money set aside years ago for Lovejoy Pond dam repair and creating one account that would include not only that dam but also the Wayne Village dam.

There is money in reserve for a new town office that selectmen hope to combine with a maintenance account that no longer serves a purpose.

There also is a proposal to take money set aside for voting machines and create a technology capital reserve account.

“All this money was set aside for specific use by the voters, and we need to get voter approval to change the use,” Chrostowsky said.

Craig Crosby — 621-5642

ccrosby@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @CraigCrosby4